Masticatory muscle activity as a function of parafunctional, active and passive oral behavioural patterns

Abstract

Oral behavioural patterns have received limited empirical support for their causal role in the development of head and facial pain. The present study was designed to assess electromyographic (EMG) variations in six muscle groups (i.e., bilateral masseter, temporalis and orbicularis oris) as a function of various oral behavioural patterns. A second purpose was to determine whether mandibular movement patterns and specific oral behaviours could be predicted by EMG patterns. Eleven non-pain subjects followed each of twenty oral behavioural patterns while EMG was recorded. Electromyographic change scores were computed for each behaviour relative to baseline measures. Initial analyses were performed using factorial repeated measures ANOVAS. Using post hoc analyses as general guides, specific EMG criteria were developed for classifying mandibular movements. For most subjects, EMG patterns accurately classified teeth clenching, protrusive/retrusive movements, right movements, left movements and lip movement patterns. Wide individual variations were found among muscle groups for identical behaviours. The association between particular oral behaviours and EMG patterns may explain 'sinus' headaches and certain types of facial pain.

Waking‐state oral parafunctional behaviors: specificity and validity as assessed by electromyography

“…As noted in the Introduction, a limitation in the study of M oss et al. (16) was examining these types of behaviors only in healthy controls; it was unclear whether rehearsal and familiarity with the associated behavior (as would be true in individuals who perform the behavior often) would affect how a task might be performed. The profile plots for controls vs. TMD were visually and statistically indistinguishable.…”

“…M oss et al. (16) measured several intentional oral parafunctional behaviors based on electromyographic (EMG) activity from three muscles of the face (bilateral masseter, temporalis, and orbicularis oris) in healthy subjects. This study showed, not surprisingly, that each of the targeted behaviors is associated with its own magnitude of EMG activity.…”

Masticatory muscle activity during deliberately performed oral tasks

“…The masticatory system is involved in functional activities such as chewing, drinking, swallowing, speaking and breathing, but also in many other activities usually not required for common function. These oral activities are usually considered as non-functional and can be associated with sustained static and/or rhythmic contractions of the masticatory muscles (Moss et al 1987, Bader and Lavigne 2000, 2006, Winocur et al 2001a, Lavigne and Kato 2005, Farella et al 2005, Markiewicz et al 2006, van der Bilt et al 2006, Chen et al 2007. Non-functional activities when awake can be either sustained, such as tooth clenching, abnormal mandible posture, lip or cheek biting, and leaning of the jaw on the hand, arm, telephone, bed, pillow, etc, or rhythmical, such as tooth grinding and repetitive biting of nails, cuticles, pens, etc; jaw play (i.e.…”

Self-checking Type, Repetitive, Education Efficacy for Temporomandibular Disorder Patients

“…Research strongly suggests that psychological (stress-induced muscle hyper-reactivity) and behavioral factors (oral habits) play a critical role in the etiology of TMD. 7,[16][17][18][19][20] The prevailing model [21][22] proposes that stressful events trigger maladaptive oral habits (e.g., teeth clenching as well as lip and fingernail biting) in individuals with TMD symptoms.…”